Crawl Errors in SEO: Causes, Types, and Fixes

Crawl errors are mainly categorized into Site Errors and URL Errors.

1. Site Errors (Affect the Entire Website)

These are major issues that prevent Googlebot from crawling your entire site.

a. DNS Errors

Cause: Googlebot can’t find your server’s IP address due to DNS misconfigurations or downtime.

Fix:

• Use DNS checker tools to verify records.
• Use reliable DNS services like Cloudflare.
• Monitor server uptime regularly.

b. Server Errors (5xx Errors)

Cause: The server fails to respond to Googlebot’s request.

Common errors: 500 (Internal Error), 502 (Bad Gateway), 503 (Service Unavailable).

Fix:

• Optimize server performance.
• Check server logs for problems.
• Use caching and a Content Delivery Network (CDN).

c. Robots.txt Fetch Failure

Cause: Googlebot can’t access your robots.txt file, so it may delay crawling.

Fix:

• Ensure your robots.txt file is accessible.
• Test it using Google Search Console.
• Avoid disallowing pages you want to index.

2. URL Errors (Affect Individual Pages)

These errors block specific pages from being crawled or indexed.

a. 404 Not Found

Cause: The page doesn’t exist.

Fix:

• Redirect to a relevant page using a 301 redirect.
• Fix broken internal/external links.
• Use a custom 404 page with helpful links.

b. Soft 404

Cause: A page exists but has little or no content. It returns a 200 OK status instead of 404.

Fix:

• Add useful content to the page.
• Redirect or delete the page if not needed.
• Use a noindex tag when appropriate.

c. Access Denied Errors

Cause: Googlebot is blocked by login pages or permission settings.

Fix:

• Avoid blocking important pages.
• Use proper access settings for public content.
• Don’t place noindex pages behind a robots.txt block.

d. Mobile Usability Errors

Cause: The mobile version of your site is hard to use or load.

Fix:

• Use responsive design.
• Compress images and use mobile-friendly fonts.
• Test using Google’s Mobile-Friendly Tool.